Cruise ship passengers declared themselves delighted to be in Bermuda yesterday - after Hurricane Florence gave them a rough passage to the Island.

The and liners from New York arrived 24 hours later than scheduled because of the extreme weather, each bringing around 1,000 tourists to Bermuda.

The ships ? operated by Norwegian Cruise Line ? reached the Island on Tuesday evening but were unable to dock at Hamilton and St. George?s until yesterday morning.

Passengers from the the first ship to make it to the Island after Florence hit, toldthat the journey here had been bumpy

Barbara Smith, from Long Island, New York, said she was ?scared to death?. ?That up and down stuff was really bad,? she said. ?I would do it again but I would never go in hurricane season again ? ever.

?It was very scary because you looked out of the window and saw these huge waves and the wind howled. I threw up three times but I would come again.?

Jim and Joyce Estandard, from Springfield, Ohio, said they found the crossing particularly difficult on Sunday and Monday. ?There were extremely big waves,? said Mr. Estandard. ?But we didn?t get sea sick. I wish we could have spent another day down here but that?s just the way it goes.?

Larry Jenner, from Ontario, Canada, said that three of his party of six got sick because of the turbulent trip ?The swells were probably somewhere between 12 and 20 feet. Monday night was the worst. Early Tuesday morning, about 3am, we woke up and stuff was flying about.?

He said he was disappointed to have had an extra day at sea rather than a planned trip to St. George?s but added: ?Mother Nature is pretty powerful so there is nothing you can do about it. I wouldn?t say it?s ruined the trip for me. I think this is a great place.?

Robert Shirley, from Springfield, Ohio, agreed. ?I was in the Navy so I have experienced rough seas before,? he said. ?It left me with a queasy feeling in my stomach but that was about it. We were a little bit disappointed by the delay but we made up for it today. Bermuda is beautiful - I?d love to live here.?

But Ricky and Elise Dittamo, of Waldwick, New Jersey, said the trip had put them off cruises for life and should have been cancelled. The couple have decided to fly back to New York today rather than risk the return journey.

Mr. Dittamo said: ?I had a horrible time because it was very, very rough. I fell into the bathtub. I didn?t feel good.?

Mrs. Dittamo added: ?Things were kind of really flying around our room at night. When you were walking down the hallways everyone was going back and forth. It turned into a nightmare, unfortunately.?

Stanko Jovicic, second engineer on the, said the weather caused no problems for the boat. ?We were actually going south of the hurricane and the ship was just rolling a little bit. Maybe for the passengers it was difficult, but not for the crew.

?It was a little bit rough but it?s not so dangerous.?

Joe Simas, manager of Meyer Shipping, the agent for the ships, said Norwegian Cruise Line had had an alternative route planned in case Florence had posed a threat. ?In the event, they just came a day late once the channels were given the okay for the ships,? he said.